Almost 9% of all TB reactors removed on foot of herd tests last year were valued above the Department of Agriculture’s reactor ceiling limits, leaving farmers having to fund the difference from their own pockets if they were to replace the animal with one of a similar value.

Department of Agriculture secretary general Sinéad McPhillips told the Dáil’s public accounts committee that there were around 3,500 cattle that exceeded the compensation limit set out under the On-Farm Market Valuation Scheme in 2025. The current ceiling for pedigree cattle is set at €5,000 per head, while commercial cattle ceilings are a lower €3,000/head.

“Of the 39,790 animals which were valued in 2025, approximately 3,500 exceeded the ceiling. The rest were below the ceiling,” McPhillips said on Thursday.

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“The ceilings are in place in an attempt to contain the total expenditure, which, as we have discussed, has gone up very significantly. There have certainly been several requests for increases in those ceilings, but we have to balance where we are spending the money.”

The committee heard from the Department that the priority for any new public spending on the TB eradication programme will be to reduce the numbers of cattle and herds going down with the disease.

The Department’s chief veterinary officer Dr June Fanning said that “something worth noting” is that “Ireland has a more generous compensation scheme than elsewhere” for compensating farmers for the loss they suffer when a reactor must be removed.

Fanning explained that a reactor costs the national exchequer almost €2,000 to remove, despite many cattle being valued more than this figure at current prices.

“It is €1,900 per reactor when we take into account the salvage value and all of the other income supports that are there for farmers.”